Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Space Wars | Learning by Proxy
Space was the ambition of the Nazis. Hitler had some really wild theories but the central amongst them was the Wunderwaffe. A wonder weapon, so powerful that it would put an end to all his enemies. From the Holy Grail to Incan treasures and spells, no theory was left to chance. Of the many real-world…
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Suffering
Is the purpose of human life. Ambition ~ The emotion that leads to self-inflicted suffering If you look back at all the work that you did, I am sure it is going to be that one project that kept you up through the night; that seemed impossible to finish, which you would remember fondly. I…
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IPCC | Learning by Proxy
In 1988, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) came together to create a body to which membership was open to all countries of the UN. The body was mandated to provide objective scientific information relevant to understanding human-induced climate change. This body was called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…
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Observe
Picture this. You are sitting in a train that is stationary on the platform. There is another train standing on the other side of the platform. You look out from your train and you see people milling about and you see the other train. The time to leave draws closer. And then you see movement.…
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Telecom Bankruptcy | Learning by Proxy
Telecom was the ticket to great wealth for governments around the world. Governments were hiring game theorists to determine how to sell air – quite literally. In the case of India, things did not really turn out the way the government had imagined. This hot potato was a creation of the previous BJP government and…
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Optimists
I would have never considered myself an optimist. I was reading a book recently that changed my mind. Every problem has a solution. The only thing holding us back from finding the solution is the lack of knowledge. If an asteroid had crashed into our planet 2000 years ago, humans could have done little but…
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Black Widow | Learning by Proxy
Latrodectus is a genus of Spider that is well known for the red hourglass-shaped marking on its back. The female spiders of the Latrodectus genus engage in sexual cannibalism; the female spider eats the male after sex. The spider is therefore known as Black Widow. Black Widow Disney has had a marvellous run with the…
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Entropy
Entropy is a theoretical property of thermodynamic systems. Entropy measures the degree of disorder in a system. The laws of thermodynamics state that heat always move from hot to cold and never in reverse and this action is not reversible. If you have seen what happens to a bowl of water that is brought to…
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Afghanistan | Learning by Proxy
When the Romans used to build their arches, they would start the foundation from both sides and finish up at the top. The final stone to be placed would provide compression to both sides and hence hold the arch in position. It was a wedge-shaped piece called the Keystone. If the keystone was to be…
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Explanation and Exception
Why are there seasons on our planet? The ancient Greeks used to had their lore. Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter was abducted by Hades, the lord of the underworld. When Zeus consented to Persephone being married to Hades; Hades made a concession to allow her to visit her mother for 8 out of…
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